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Thursday, July 11, 2013

Last weekend I was lucky enough to collaborate with Amy, the amazingly talented florist behind Luna Moss, on an edible flower photoshoot. We met at the Kinfolk event I hosted this past May and got to talking about flowers, and it blossomed (pun intended) into a wonderful afternoon spent baking, arranging, and snapping photos. The only issue was the heat...it was about 98 degrees in my neighborhood at the time, which is not very cut flower-friendly. But Amy stationed all the blossoms in front of the AC unit in my living room and they stayed looking pretty spright up until the evening. Hurray!!! Before the recipes begin I have a series of photos of the beautiful arrangements Amy made throughout the afternoon. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I did :)

As for the recipes, we decided to make creamy rose popsicles, a cornflower cocktail, and candied pansy and viola mini-pavlovas. Out of all three recipes, the creamy rose popsicles were my favorite, but the other two were delicious in their own right. I think I was just able to taste the rose the most compared to the other two blossoms, and it paired wonderfully with the sweet honey and creamy evaporated milk. Pansies and violas taste kind of like mild greens if you have them on their own, but when you have them candied, the sugar masks the "green" flavor of the flowers and just makes them taste very, very sweet. The cornflowers (everyone's favorite crayola shade) had a mildly sweet and herbal flavor to them, it was a very light flavor that worked well for such a beautiful flower. Seriously, I could not get over the color and texture of these guys. Their petals are so soft and fluffy and light, they would make for great rapidly biodegradable wedding tossers to use instead of rice.

And I wanted to let you all know that I am hosting another Kinfolk event this month. It will take place at the Willowbrook apple orchard in Oak Glenn, California, and we'll learn a bit about beekeeping from their beekeeper! There will also be a farm tour, and I will teach you how to make honey infusions, which means everyone who attends will be going home with a big jar of infused apple blossom honey and it will be DELICIOUS. I bought apple blossom honey from this orchard two years ago and it is still hands-down the best honey I've ever had. And I haven't been able to find apple blossom honey for sale anywhere else after scouring the greater Los Angeles area, so it is a truly rare and wonderful treat. Please come and join us, it's going to be a beautiful event in an incredibly idyllic setting with good food and good people!

Creamed Rose & Honey Popsicles

1/2 cup honey

12 ounces evaporated milk

petals from 3 organic roses

popsicle sticks
popsicle mould

To make the creamed rose & honey popsicles, place the rose petals in a large bowl and set aside. Bring the honey and the evaporated milk to a boil in a medium-sized pot over medium-high heat. Pour the boiling hot mixture into the bowl over the rose petals.

Allow the mixture to steep until it cools to room temperature. Pour the mixture into a blender and blend at high speed for 30 seconds. Pour into popsicle moulds with popsicle sticks and allow to freeze overnight. Makes about 8 popsicles.

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The Cornflower Kickback

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup water

1/2 cup organic cornflower petals (not compressed)

4 shots gin

1 cup sparkling water

1/2 cup pear nectar

a few whole cornflowers for garnish

To make the cornflower kickback, bring the sugar, water, and cornflower petals to a gentle boil in a small thick-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, then reduce heat to low. Allow the mixture to simmer for 30 minutes, then remove from heat and allow to cool for 2 hours.

Strain the cornflower petals out of the syrup and reserve the syrup. Pour 3 tablespoons of the syrup, 2 shots of gin, 1/2 cup of sparkling water, and 1/4 cup pear nectar into a cocktail glass and stir until blended. Repeat this process with another cocktail glass. Garnish each with a cornflower bud and serve.

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Candied Pansy & Viola Miniature Pavlovas

3/4 cup superfine sugar

1 egg white, lightly whisked

2 dozen organic pansies

2 dozen organic violas

6 egg whites

2 cups granulated sugar

1 teaspoon corn starch

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

pinch of salt

2 cups whipped cream

pastry brush

parchment paper

pastry bag fitted with large open-star tip (optional)

To make the candied pansy & viola miniature pavlovas, start by candying the flowers. Lightly brush the petals of a flower with the egg whites. Sprinkle the superfine sugar over the flower until coated. Place on a wire rack to dry. Repeat this process until all of the flowers are candied. Allow to dry for 1 hour, or until the flowers feel crisp when poked.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large bowl, beat the 6 egg whites and salt until they begin to stiffen but aren't dry. Gradually beat in the granulated sugar, about 1/4 cup at a time. Continue beating on high speed until the egg whites are shiny and thick, then fold in the vanilla extract and the corn starch.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Now, you can either use a spatula to simply spread the meringue into small 4-inch discs, or you can do it with a pastry bag to create the spiral pattern. To do it with the pastry bag, scoop the meringue into a pastry bag fitted with the open-star tip and fold the top several times. Secure the folded top in place with a small clip. Starting at the outside edge, spiral your way towards the center as you apply pressure to the bag to make a 4-inch in diameter spiral. Repeat this until you have used all of the meringue. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 40 minutes.

Turn off the oven and leave the door ajar to allow the pavlovas to cool slowly (this prevents cracking). Once cooled, remove the tray from the oven. To assemble, place the pavlova on the serving surface and spread a dollop of whipped cream on top of it. Place several of the candied pansies and violas on top of the cream and serve.

This all looks so gorgeous, your photos are beautiful. I always think about buying edible flowers, but am never quite sure what I would do with them! Thank you for all the inspiration here, I especially love the sound of the mini pavlovas :)

Thank you Rosie! I am glad you enjoyed looking at the different recipes, I had so much fun putting them together. There are so many wonderful things that can be done with edible flowers, I'm still coming up with recipes I'd like to make with them :)

So so so Pretty! The flower arrangements, the flowers in particular and of course the pavlovas and the popsicles too! I see that one of the gathering is happening in SF and I so wished to attend that, unfortunately, that very day I am shifting apartment :( I am hope it happens in SF again and I get to attend that time!

Oh boo! Well there is a new Kinfolk event every month, so hopefully there will be one in SF next month that you can go to :) And best of luck with your move! I know how stressful it can be packing up all of your things and moving them into a new place, especially with food props. Sending positive moving vibes your way!

So awesome. The popsicles sound delicious and that drink. Oh, the drink. I don't have enough of the annual bachelor buttons blooming yet to make it, but I see a glass of champagne with one floating in it in my very near future. Like tonight at 5:00.

Ohhh yesssss. Flowers floating in champagne makes an elegant drink even more beautiful and enjoyable :) I have some of them growing in my front yard, too! But it has been so hot lately that they're almost dead :( The soil along my walkway is too dry anyway, though, I think it's a bit sandy. So I am just going to let everything there die and then dig it up and put in succulents, they'll thrive in that soil I think...or at least I hope they will haha :)

Oh mah gawd, girl! :D I was wondering what was happening with all those pretty flowers I was seeing on instagram, but this is beyond what I could have ever imagined. Flowers in pops and booze and on top of pavlovas!! Everything sounds so good, and all of these photos are beyond gorgeous. I cannot get over the color of those cornflowers (and hellz yeah, favorite crayola crayon color). I'm pretty sure those pops would be my favorite too. I'm a sucker for pretty much anything made with evaporated milk, and then with honey and rose too....yup yup yup.

Thanks lady!! I am SUPER excited about this event, I have been wanting to talk to a beekeeper forever and can't wait to learn about the needs of the bees and such. Plus, delicious honey!!! It's going to be a blast.

And the edible flowers were so fun, I really want to try making something with hibiscus soon, it's just tricky to find those fresh and organic :/ I think I am just going to have to hunker down and buy a whole plant and wait for it to have new blooms so I know they haven't been sprayed with anything. Perhaps next month! :)

How absolutely beautiful is this! It's a treat for the eyes and the soul. I can't take my eyes of those gorgeous photographed flowers and foods. The recipes are beautiful and your intent is fabulous. Well done!

Thanks so much Shelly! I had planted cornflower this year but by the time I realized they were edible the summer had begun and the LA heat had kind of destroyed them :/ Next year, though, I am going to grow more of them and utilize them while they're in season.

Thank you Jade! Yes, definitely :) Perhaps sometime in December? Something wintery and fun! We could even drive up to a snowy area, Newberg usually isn't too high in elevation but gets a good amount of snow. Would be very scenic!

I didn't know it was possible, but I think I just fell in love with your blog even more. I had no idea you were involved with Kinfolk! I've recently been obsessed with publications like them and Cereal... how did you first start getting involved? Anyway, the photos are all gorgeous—I think I also have a slight favour for the popsicles, though! ;) What a stunning post.

If it wasn't for the teacher, I would probably have eaten the cornflower crayola whole so when I read your recipe, I immediately went forgaging and made your cocktail. Love, love, love it! The ice cubes are so pretty as well!

these are so intriguing. I love meringue and I wonder, you are calling them cornflowers, but to me they look like bachelor buttons? are they the same thing? I have bachelor buttons. Thank you for your reply

Hello! Yes, cornflower and bachelor's button are the same thing :) I have them too, but mine are bright blue. I hadn't ever encountered purple of pink varieties until Amy got some from the edible flower provider. They're so vibrant and beautiful!

This is the loveliest collaboration of recipes, photographs, and people I have stumbled upon in quite some time. I long for idyllic evenings such as these; enveloped in flora and fragrance and friendship and all the beautiful things that fit in between.

I'm Eva, an Oregon lass with a love for home-grown food. I enjoy cooking, eating, photography, & all things farm-related. Thank you so much for visiting, and feel free to get in touch with me at the email address across the way!